Manufactures of textiles are continuously searching for compositions to enhance textile fiber performance and durability. In the carpet and floor coverings industry, for example, manufacturers desire compositions operable to render carpet fibers resistant to oily stains and discoloration caused by soil accumulation. Fluorinated or perfluorinated alkyl compounds, when applied to fibers in sufficient amount, lower the surface energy of the fiber or fabric below the surface tension of water or oils that might be spilled onto the fabric. This allows these liquids to be removed before they can penetrate into the fiber or fabric. This is of great benefit for fibers and fabrics used in residential, commercial and industrial settings as the useful life of the fibers and fabric is substantially increased.
Similarly, soil release compositions have been developed for fibers and fabrics that assist or facilitate soil removal from the fibers and fabrics during cleaning. However, while being effective during cleaning operations, many soil release compositions demonstrate inferior performance in preventing or inhibiting fiber soiling. This is a particularly acute problem for hydrophobic textile fibers lacking ionic or sufficiently polar chemical functionalities to resist soil adherence. Further, the presence of a fluoropolymer component fails to mitigate problems encountered with fiber soiling.
The inability to effectively address fiber soiling has limited use of hydrophobic fibers in a variety of applications, including carpets and floor coverings. For example, polyester fibers, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), have found limited use in high traffic floor coverings can carpet due to the increased frequency of cleanings required to maintain an acceptable appearance of these fibers.